Joe Lillard

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Joe Lillard
Mason City (IA)
College:Oregon
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Rushing yards:494
Rushing average:2.9
Rushing TDs:1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Joseph Johnny Lillard Jr. (June 15, 1905 – September 18, 1978) was an American football, baseball, and basketball player. From 1932 to 1933, he was a

Chicago Cardinals. Lillard was the last African-American, along with Ray Kemp, to play in the NFL until 1946, when Kenny Washington and Woody Strode joined the Los Angeles Rams
. Lillard received the nickname "The Midnight Express" by the media. In 1933, he was responsible for almost half of the Cardinals' points.

An orphan from an early age, Lillard attended

Chicago Defender. His performances during the season included a game against the Chicago Bears that featured a punt return for a touchdown
. However, he was ejected from two games that season for fighting, into which he was often baited by white opponents.

With the advent of an unofficial

guard in basketball for the future Harlem Globetrotters
. After his athletic career, he became an appliance store employee and died in 1978.

Early life

Born in

Mason City High School, graduating in 1927. In basketball and football, Lillard won all-state honors, and claimed several Iowa track titles.[2]

College career

Although Lillard planned to attend the

traveled across the United States.[6]

Professional American football career

After the end of his college career, Lillard participated in a professional

Boston Braves and Providence Steamrollers (in a non-NFL contest), the number of plays in which Lillard was on the field for the Cardinals sharply declined.[11] During the latter part of the 1932 season, "Lillard's teammates had stopped blocking for him", according to Coyle.[7] Toward the end of the season, he was benched by the Cardinals; it is unknown whether this was because of an injury or a suspension.[12] Jack Chevigny, the Cardinals' coach, indicated that Lillard had occasionally failed to attend practice, and had arrived late at other times.[13] The lack of playing time for Lillard was attributed to internal disputes caused by "lackluster effort and a prideful attitude"; the Chicago Defender offered a different explanation, accusing Chevigny of racism towards Lillard.[14] He ended the season with 121 rushing yards in 52 attempts, and nine successful passes in 28 attempts.[15]

Lillard was primarily a backup in 1933, although he was one of the Cardinals' leading players when he received playing time.

guard Les Caywood; he responded with a punch to Caywood's head, and was thrown out of the game along with Caywood.[17] He played a key role in the Cardinals' October 15, 1933 game against the Bears. In addition to converting a field goal attempt, he had 110 yards in punt returns, including a return of more than 50 yards in which he outran Bears star Red Grange for a touchdown. However, the Cardinals lost by a score of 12–9.[7][18] In 1933, the Cardinals posted 52 points in 11 games;[19] Lillard scored 19 himself and had two touchdown passes. He had 373 rushing yards from 119 attempts.[15] The Chicago Defender called him "easily the best halfback in football".[13] In addition, Lillard occasionally served as a quarterback for the Cardinals. Steven Ruiz of USA Today credited him as a starter at the position for the team in 1933.[20]

During his time in the NFL, Lillard was regarded as a player with multiple talents, possessing the ability to complete passes and execute running and kicking plays. Author Charles Ross called him "a superior athlete" due to his skills in baseball and basketball, and added that in the NFL "arguably he was one of the best players in the league."[21] He was frequently baited into fighting by opposing white players. His responses during these incidents went against cultural expectations for African-American athletes; Sports Illustrated's Daniel Coyle wrote that they "were regarded by all whites and many blacks as prideful foolishness, if not sheer lunacy."[22] It is not known how other Cardinals players viewed Lillard.[23] Cardinals coach Paul J. Schissler said that he was forced to remove Lillard from some games due to injuries suffered when teams "gave Joe the works".[12] Lillard also received racial abuse from fans; author Alan Howard Levy wrote that spectators in Portsmouth, Ohio regularly taunted him when the Cardinals played there.[24] After the 1933 season, Lillard was not retained by the Cardinals, and he did not play again in the NFL.[7][13] The Cardinals' decision was criticized as racially motivated by African-American publications. Schissler acknowledged the existence of an unofficial regulation against African-American players in the NFL, and stated that the team's move was aimed at protecting them and Lillard from violence.[13] In his two-year NFL career, he played in 18 games. Lillard had 171 rushing attempts, in which he gained 494 yards. Of his 95 attempted passes, he completed 27 for 372 yards.[15] The media gave him the nickname of "The Midnight Express".[7]

After his NFL career ended, Lillard joined the Westwood Cubs of the Pacific Coast Football League for the 1934 season, throwing the most touchdown passes of any player in the league and compiling the second-most touchdowns on runs.[25] In 1935, he drew interest from coach Fritz Pollard, who was leading the New York Brown Bombers, a semi-professional team of African-American players. Based in Harlem, the team competed against minor league sides and clubs not affiliated with a league.[2][22] Lillard had played for a Chicago team coached by Pollard before entering the NFL,[26] and decided to join the Brown Bombers. In his first game with the team, on October 13, 1935, Lillard scored two touchdowns against the Cagle All-Stars in a 28–6 New York win. After three more victories, the Brown Bombers faced the Passaic Red Devils, a three-time champion of Eastern American football leagues. Despite suffering from an illness, Lillard converted a drop kick attempt and intercepted a pass, returning it 52 yards for a touchdown. He was responsible for all of the Brown Bombers' points in their 10–3 win over the Red Devils.[22] Lillard stayed with the Brown Bombers through the 1937 season; the team went out of business in 1938.[22] That year, he was a member of an All-Star team of black players that played an exhibition game against the Bears, losing 51–0.[13]

In later years, Lillard played for various minor league sides; In 1938, he joined the American Association's (AA) Clifton Wessingtons, playing one season for the club and earning second-team AA all-star honors. The following year, he spent time with two AA teams: the Brooklyn Eagles and Union City Rams.[25] Lillard was named captain of the Rams, making him the first African-American to earn that title on "a major mixed-race pro team."[22] His final year in minor league football was 1941, as he played for a short period with the AA's New York Yankees.[25]

Professional baseball

Joe Lillard
Pitcher, Outfielder, Catcher
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
debut
1932
Last appearance
1944
Teams

In addition to his professional football career, Lillard was a right-handed pitcher, outfielder, and catcher in the Negro leagues for five seasons.[27] Along with Sol Butler and Bobby Marshall, he was one of three Negro league baseball players to also compete in the NFL.[28] Author Charles Ross wrote that "He possessed an exceptional fast ball, but erratic control."[29]

In 1932, Lillard joined the

decision on either occasion. Lillard did not play in any more recorded games until 1937, when he had an 0–1 record for the Giants, who by this time were playing in the Negro American League (NAL).[27][30]

Lillard is credited with six at bats for the Cincinnati Tigers in 1937,[27] though he was also listed on the team's pitching staff for several exhibition games.[31] His final Negro league season was 1944; Lillard played with the NAL's Cincinnati/Indianapolis Clowns, and the Birmingham Black Barons.[27][30][32] In 1949 and 1950, Lillard played for El Águila de Veracruz of the Mexican League.[33]

Professional basketball

Lillard spent several years on the Savoy Big Five basketball team as a

guard.[7][22] In 1934 he started his own club named the Chicago Hottentots, who mostly toured Wisconsin and Iowa.[34] He joined the Harlem Globetrotters in 1937.[35]

Later life and legacy

In the late 1930s, Lillard began writing a column on sports in the Independent News.

Bellevue Hospital Center.[7]

Lillard was the 12th black player in the history of the NFL.

Boston Redskins owner George Preston Marshall was thought to have been behind the agreement.[40] After the introduction of an unofficial color line, no African-American played in the NFL until 1946, when Kenny Washington and Woody Strode joined the Los Angeles Rams.[39] Author Charles Ross wrote that "NFL owners may have used Lillard's volatile personality as an excuse to ban other black athletes."[41]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Craft, Roy (November 16, 1931). "The Life Story of Joe Lillard". The Register-Guard. p. 6. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Buehner, Kristin (February 24, 2004). "'He Did It All'". Globe Gazette. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Levy, pp. 38–39.
  4. ^ a b "Joe Lillard, Star Oregon Back, Is "Benched", Then Reinstated". The Spokesman-Review. October 9, 1931. p. 17. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  5. ^ "Oregon To Lose Back Saturday". Ellensburg Daily Record. Associated Press. October 8, 1931. p. 1. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  6. ^ Ross, pp. 38–39.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Chalk, Ocania (June 19, 1986). "Lillard remembered: 'Midnight Express' the best gridder?". The Rock Hill Herald. p. 8A.
  8. ^ Ross, p. 39.
  9. ^ Levy, p. 43.
  10. ^ Ross, pp. 39–40.
  11. ^ Ross, p. 40.
  12. ^ a b Levy, p. 46.
  13. ^ a b c d e Smith, Thomas G. (1988). "Outside the Pale: The Exclusion of Blacks from the National Football League, 1934–1946" (PDF). Journal of Sport History. 15 (3). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2006. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  14. ^ Ross, p. 41.
  15. ^ a b c "Joe Lillard". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  16. ^ Levy, p. 50.
  17. ^ Levy, pp. 51–52.
  18. ^ Levy, p. 52.
  19. ^ "1933 Chicago Cardinals". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  20. ^ Ruiz, Steven (September 22, 2016). "A timeline of when each NFL team started its first African-American quarterback". USA Today. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  21. ^ Ross, p. 38.
  22. ^
    doi:10.1038/441382a
    .
  23. ^ Levy, p. 41.
  24. ^ Levy, p. 51.
  25. ^ a b c Gill, Bob; Maher, Tod (1989). "Not Only the Ball Was Brown: Black Players In Minor League Football, 1933–46" (PDF). Coffin Corner. 11 (5). Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  26. ^ Levy, p. 60.
  27. ^
    Baseball-Reference.com
    . Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  28. ^ McKenna, p. 139.
  29. ^ Ross, p. 42.
  30. ^ a b McKenna, p. 131.
  31. ^ "Tigers Here On Wednesday". Green Bay Press-Gazette. July 26, 1937.
  32. ^ "Slugging Infielder with Birmingham to Play Here". The Evening News. August 28, 1944. p. 11. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  33. Globe-Gazette
    . Mason City, Iowa. August 10, 1955.
  34. ^ "In New Role Now". The Chicago Defender. February 3, 1934.
  35. ^ "Joe Lillard joins N.Y. Globe Trotters". The Chicago Defender. December 11, 1937.
  36. ^ Carroll, p. 195.
  37. ^ Piascik (2011), p. 3.
  38. ^ Ross, pp. 37–38.
  39. ^ a b MacCambridge, pp. 17–20.
  40. ^ Piascik (2007), p. 35.
  41. ^ Ross, p. 44.

Bibliography

External links
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